By Jennifer M. Fitzenberger
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 14, 1997

IIF construction to displace traditional Mall events

Photo Courtesy of Facilities Management Arizona Daily Wildcat This image displays a model of the future Integrated Instructional Facility which will be built under the UA Mall in front of the Psychology building. Construction will begin May 1998.

Breaking from tradition, Homecoming, Spring Fling and Family Weekend will be shuffled from their usual places on the UA Mall next year to make way for the freshman-centered Integrated Instructional Facility.

"All these things need to be displaced for a time," said Boyd Beckwith, associate director of Student Programs. "There will always be headaches, but we will be doing the best we can."

The $20.3 million facility, which has been an issue of contention between administrators and student leaders for the past year, was given the go-ahead in August by the Arizona Board of Regents.

Construction for IIF will begin with a utility project on the Mall between North Cherry Avenue and the Cactus Garden in front of the Administration Building, said Peter Dourlein, project manager and Facilities Design and Construction senior architect. He said the project will break ground in May 1998.

He said construction of the entire facility should be completed in February 2000, and the building will be opened in June.

"We're still working out the details," Dourlein said. "It's (the Mall) a great site because we don't have to knock down houses, but it's in the heart of campus so it will be a challenge."

Diane Newman, Mall Activities Coordinator, said Homecoming will have to be relocated "because their thing is just so big."

Next fall, Homecoming tents may begin at the Cactus Garden, wrap around Old Main and stretch toward North Park Avenue, said Jennifer Harris, program coordinator for the event.

"I'm hoping to be able to fit all of the interested groups into this spot," she said. "There's no question that it will have an effect on our activity. Hopefully it will be a good effect."

Harris said she does not expect the size of Homecoming to shrink because events also will be scheduled throughout the campus and in the Memorial Student Union.

A Spring Fling official seemed more nervous about the building's effect on the annual week-long, student-run carnival.

"Construction doesn't attract people, it deters people," said Berry Melfy, Spring Fling executive director. She said she is concerned that construction of IIF and the Strength and Conditioning Facility to the north of McKale Center will shrink Spring Fling and turn off activity goers.

The carnival draws over 30,000 visitors and rakes in about $80,000 for over 150 UA clubs and organizations.

Melfy said construction for IIF, which will temporarily close North Cherry Avenue and litter the Mall with building equipment as far east as the Optical Sciences Building, will be an eyesore.

"Its not going to be pretty, but we'll have to work around it," she said.

Beginning in 1999, Newman said Family Weekend will be hit with parking and tailgating problems.

Organizers of the event have considered moving tailgaters to McKale's paved parking lots on the north and east side of the center, she said, although nothing has been decided.

Veda Hunn, assistant dean of students and Mall Activities committee head, said representatives from the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, Residence Hall Association, Campus Recreation and Facilities Management will meet later this month to discuss IIF construction.

Dourlein said the facility will connect with the plaza in front of the Modern Languages Building and open in front of the Main Library.

While the facility is being constructed, he said, access to the library and other buildings will be restricted.

"We want to leave as much access to other buildings as possible," Dourlein said. "But there will be days we will not be able to do that."

Dourlein added that library users may have to use an alternative south-side entrance at times during the construction and bicycle traffic will have to be rerouted.

The piece of land about 300 feet east of Cherry Avenue, he said, will be used to store building materials and supplies, and a driveway will be built across the Mall adjacent to the Optical Sciences Building for buses and campus shuttles.

The area west of the Cactus Garden, Dourlein said, will not be impacted.